'There are positives to being here,' says leader of WNY tech community

The average home value in San Jose is $804,000 -- just one example of the eye-popping costs of living and working in a tech hotbed.

That dynamic is behind a trend driving entrepreneurs away from Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Manhattan and Boston -- the titans of the tech universe where almost all venture investment is directed, according to a recent article by www.cnet.com titled, “Vexed in the city: San Francisco strife spurs tech defectors elsewhere.”

The article doesn’t mention Buffalo, instead focusing on individual cases in Detroit, Austin and Raleigh/Durham. The featured entrepreneurs pointed out the advantages of moving to a smaller ecosystem where they’ve been embraced by the local community, along with their ability to make a dollar go much farther in lower-cost regions.

“I don’t think innovation and disruption is really limited by geographic boundaries anymore,” said Mark McCaffrey of PricewaterhouseCoopers, according to the article. “The ability to create disruptive technology can really almost come out of any region within the US or around the world.”

It’s a point that’s relevant to Buffalo, where stakeholders are trying to piece together a business environment where tech businesses, or businesses that utilize tech in industries ranging from education to life sciences, can find a way to grow and thrive.

“We’re not Silicon Valley here, but if you’re looking at lower costs so you don’t have to raise as much money, and if you’re looking at being a bigger fish in a smaller pond, there are positives to being here,” said Jack McGowan, a project manager at Insyte Consulting and director of the WNY Venture Association.

McGowan didn’t dispute the well-known drawbacks, from a lack of attention by venture capitalists to a smaller pool of experienced startup managers and tech talent, but he said those facts can obscure the region’s advantages.